random but relevent (sp?)--will a masters with technical training (aka masters with thesis in biochem, physics etc..) be sufficient or do you think you need a PhD?

I interned with an (very good, btw) IP firm who had people from all different levels of training: some had undergrad degrees, most had masters, and a lot had PHDs. So are PHd's necessary? Not really, but you will make more money/have an easier time finding a job with one.

I personally think these rankings have some affect on IP hiring, but it is minimal at best. I think it depends tremendously on your undergrad degree and your experience with IP law/subject matter. If a student from FSU law, who has an undergrad degree in electrical engineering and has worked at an engineering firm for 3 years before law school is applying for the same job as someone from Stanford who came straight from undergrad with a history degree … I am willing to bet the fsu law student will get the job. Granted I am ignoring the alumni factor, but even with that I think the fsu law student might get the job anyways. IP firms want more then a law degree, they want people who can understand backwards and forwards technical data. Now if an IP firm is trying to decide between a student at FSU that came straight from undergrad with a history degree and a student at GW that came straight from undergrad with a history degree, then I think the GW student wins because US News says that his/her IP education is better. Am I wrong?

pretty no firm wants someone with a history degree, period. you have to have a technical degree or they wont even look at you. from experience I can tell you that even an applied math degree with a billion physics credits isnt what they are looking for

still conlfating "IP" with "Patent"

no I understand the distinction--however, firms that specialize in "IP" work are usually patent firms. "Soft IP" as copyright, etc is sometimes called is a really soft market right now, and most of the work is not done by boutique firms

Logged

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is it just me or are those rankings completely wrong.... this is the list I found...

1. University of California–Berkeley2. Stanford University (CA)3. George Washington University (DC)4. Santa Clara University (CA)5. University of Houston6. Cardozo-Yeshiva University (NY)7. Duke University (NC) Franklin Pierce Law Center (NH)9. Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago-Kent)10. Columbia University (NY)11. DePaul University (IL)12. Boston University New York University14. John Marshall Law School (IL)15. Georgetown University (DC)16. Harvard University (MA)17. Michigan State University University of Washington19. Case Western Reserve University (OH) Fordham University (NY)21. Boston College University of Minnesota–Twin Cities University of Texas–Austin24. George Mason University (VA) University of Akron (OH) University of Pittsburgh27. Washington University in St. Louis

is it just me or are those rankings completely wrong.... this is the list I found...

1. University of California–Berkeley2. Stanford University (CA)3. George Washington University (DC)4. Santa Clara University (CA)5. University of Houston6. Cardozo-Yeshiva University (NY)7. Duke University (NC) Franklin Pierce Law Center (NH)9. Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago-Kent)10. Columbia University (NY)11. DePaul University (IL)12. Boston University New York University14. John Marshall Law School (IL)15. Georgetown University (DC)16. Harvard University (MA)17. Michigan State University University of Washington19. Case Western Reserve University (OH) Fordham University (NY)21. Boston College University of Minnesota–Twin Cities University of Texas–Austin24. George Mason University (VA) University of Akron (OH) University of Pittsburgh27. Washington University in St. Louis

I think those 2007 rankings are correct.

I just took and passed the patent bar exam myself--I'm entering law school this fall. All you pretty much need to do to prepare for it is take a review course (I took PRG/Kayton) and practice through old exams, knowing where to look up the information in the PDF version of the MPEP. The USPTO loves to put old questions verbatim on their exam and out of the 100 questions on my test, 30 of them were straight repeats from these old exams. This site has old tests free for download: http://www.legaled.com/patentbarexam.htm.

You want to look at the markets adn schools that place well in those markets. The top IP markets are listed below with the Regional schools that place best in that corresponding market in order from Best to Worst: (note: T5 schools ommitted b/ they're national)